Perhaps
by MissPennyLockhart
Summary: She was giving him five more minutes and that was it. She’d be damned if she was going to wait around in the rain for Draco Malfoy'


**_A/N: I do not own Starbucks, nor do I own the Harry Potter franchise .. unfortunately. So the only thing that belongs to me is the little plot bunny that hopped into my head at one am. Anyway, any feedback would be greatly appreciated :)_**

**_Cheers _**

**_- Miss Penny Lockhart _**

* * *

It was a cold and dreary morning in the city of London. The consistent rain was falling in thin sheets, it was the kind of rain so light that it soaked you to the bone before you even realised you were getting wet. In the centre of the capital, wrapped in a warm red cloak stood the protagonist of our story, twenty one year old Hermione Granger.

Brushing her dark curls out of her face, Hermione wrinkled her nose as the raindrops that clung to her hair swiped across her face. She straightened her woollen hat and sighed as she checked her watch.

He was fifteen minutes late, he was_ never_ late for anything and this was making her worry. The fact that she was worrying about him made her angry, she was angry at herself for worrying about somebody that had spent the past ten years infuriating her. Rubbing her forehead at the jumble of thoughts that had suddenly invaded her head she scowled. She was giving him five more minutes and that was it. She'd be damned if she was going to wait around in the rain for Draco Malfoy.

Now it may seem strange that Hermione was meeting up with Draco in the first place, considering their past. However, after the war was over they'd formed a somewhat tentative acquaintance. Harry and Ron had an easy friendship with him now but Hermione wasn't sure she trusted him, not just yet. It had been three years since the end of the war but to Hermione he still hadn't proved that he could be a decent friend. Fair enough he'd taken the Orders side in the final battle but Hermione decided that was probably because he knew if he became a Death Eater he'd die. She didn't understand how Harry and Ron could forgive and forget so easily after the years of taunting and bullying he'd put them through. The whole point of today was to try and forge a friendship so as to not cause their friends any more awkwardness than they were presently.

Looking once again at her watch impatiently, she saw that five minutes had passed. Growling she was about to apparate away when lo and behold an out of breath and uncharacteristically dishevelled Draco Malfoy veered around the corner, promptly barrelling into her. Hermione closed her eyes preparing for the impact that the wet ground would have on her behind when instead of feeling wet pavement, she felt a pair of strong arms shoot out and grab her around the waist. Hermione's eyes shot open and wide eyed she found herself looking into an equally shocked looking pair of light grey eyes. Grunting, she pushed Draco off her, ignoring the fuzzy warm feeling she felt in her chest.

"You're late Malfoy. We said ten o'clock; it's now twenty one and a half minutes past. You're lucky you caught me, I was just about to leave." Hermione remarked snottily.

"I do apologise Granger, I was caught up in something rather important. I couldn't get away, I did however, try to get here as fast as I could. Do you really think I'd _run_ if I didn't think I had to." He retorted, eyeing Hermione suspiciously as if she were about to strike him.

Hermione brought her hand to her forehead.

"Honestly Malfoy, look at us. Today was meant to be about building bridges, perhaps forging a friendship and we're bickering within the first thirty seconds. I wouldn't say it was a very good start. Would you?" She growled, pulling her hat down so it was covering the tips of her freezing ears. Sighing Draco looked down at his feet and grit his teeth.

"No, I wouldn't say it was a very good start. Look, let's start this whole meeting over again." He ground out, apparating away before she had a chance to respond. Hermione growled once again. He was already infuriating her.

A few minutes later, Draco appeared around the corner once again, walking this time and looking less dishevelled, apart from the unusual mess that was his hair. His hair, which was usually perfectly gelled back, was loose and shaggy, hanging over his face. Hermione to her mortification couldn't help but notice quite how debonair and handsome the look made him. Shaking her head of impure thoughts she turned towards Draco who was walking over to her, his hands deep in his pants pocket looking quite like he owned the world. As he reached her he stuck out his hand and shook hers.

"It's a pleasure to see you again Granger. How do you do?" Hermione gave him an odd look for the way he phrased the question but shook her head.

"I'm well thank you Malfoy, yourself?"

"I'm also well thank you Granger." He replied, grimacing at how wooden and forced their conversation was. "Ah bollocks, look I want to be friends, and this whole calling each other by our surnames shit isn't the right way to go about it. So what do you say, how about we take the plunge and call each other by our given names?" Hermione looked at him in shock.

"Um, yes I suppose that would be appropriate, _Draco_." She answered quietly, astounded at how easily his name rolled off her tongue.

"Good, now how about we grab a cup of coffee or something _Hermione_?" He replied, inwardly grinning at the way she unconsciously lit up when he said her name. If that wasn't a good sign then he didn't know what was.

* * *

Bringing Draco to a muggle coffee shop hadn't been as bad of an experience as Hermione had expected it to be. Initially he had been perplexed at the name, questioning what kind of a name '_Starbucks_' was for a coffee shop but Hermione had given him a look that told him to shut up and he'd behaved ever since. Hermione was even surprised to find that she was having a pleasant morning. After the initial awkwardness of their meeting, they had really hit it off. Perhaps because they were actually trying to make this work or because they genuinely had things in common, it could even be a mixture of both. Hermione just knew that Draco Malfoy wasn't the man she'd thought him to be.

One thing she didn't understand however was how his teeth were so abnormally white when he drank his tea and coffee sans milk. Whereas she drank her caffeinated drinks so white they were practically just hot milk and no amount of whitening would make her teeth as white as his. While she was pondering this, he clicked his fingers in front of her eyes.

"Hermione, stop staring at my teeth. It's rather off putting." He chuckled

"How did you know I was staring at your teeth? I could have been staring at your mouth." She retorted defensively, blushing profusely after she realised what she'd just said. "N-not that I was, I mean I _was_ staring at your teeth. I wasn't staring at your mouth." She defended, holding her head in her hands causing Draco to laugh heartily at her. Hermione discovered she liked Draco's life very much indeed. In school she'd never heard him laugh properly, she'd heard him snigger but she'd never heard his genuine laugh. It reminded her of warmth and something familiar like home.

"I don't mind." Draco replied, after he'd stopped laughing and winked at her. This caused Hermione to blush even redder, if that was indeed possible.

"I was just wondering how your teeth are so utterly white, yet you drink black tea and coffee." She asked eyes wide with wonder. This caused Draco to smirk, ever the know-it-all this girl, no not girl, woman he thought as he surreptitiously ran his eyes over her. This woman was still a know-it-all. Draco tapped his nose.

"It's because I'm brilliant." He grinned as she pouted at him. She looked oh so kissable when she stuck her lips out like that. The thought caused Draco to groan in frustration. Today was about building a friendship, that plan did _not_ constitute his clearly unrequited feelings for her getting in the way.

"So Draco ..." Hermione drawled out, almost toying with his name in her mouth. "What was so important that it that made you so late to meet me this morning?" She asked, cocking her head to the side, eyes wide.

Draco gulped, oh bollocks here we go.

"Well, Pansy stopped by this morning;" he ran a hand through his hair "she wouldn't leave. She just won't take the hint that we're over for good." Hermione narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Oh, so that's why you were late? You had an end of relationship, once more, goodbye shag. I suppose that's why your hair is so uncharacteristically dishevelled." Hermione spat out nastily, feeling somewhat hurt. The feeling knocked her for six. She hated Draco Malfoy, why did she feel betrayed that he was late because of another woman. Draco glared at her, uh oh.

"Actually no _Granger_, that's not what ... that's not what happened. She turned up at my flat and wouldn't bloody leave. She was practically on her fucking knees begging me to take her back. Yes she did try to come onto me but I refused her and called security." Draco growled, running a hand through his messy hair, causing it to stick up some more. In Hermione's opinion it made him look adorable.

"As for the hair. I've been told it makes me look devastatingly handsome and a little birdie told me you like messy hair so pardon me for trying to fucking impress you." He ground out, staring her down.

Hermione was shocked to say the least; she'd never in her wildest dreams imagined that Draco Malfoy would go out of his way to impress _her_. She who'd been his mortal enemy since the day they'd met ten years ago. Who'd been the only person brave enough to smack him one when he'd deserved it. She who at that moment was staring at an empty chair ... wait, what?

Hermione looked around just in time to see the tail of Draco's coat disappear out of the door. Darting up Hermione practically sprinted to the door and yanked it open. She spun around in a circle; he was nowhere to be seen. Groaning in frustration she was about to give up hope when she saw a flash of platinum blond hair sticking out from behind a brick wall. Hermione smirked and walked around the corner, coming face to face with a livid looking Draco Malfoy.

"Oh what now Granger, came to make fun of me some more? Haven't I humiliated myself in front of you enough?" Hermione shook her head and let out a small laugh.

"No Draco that's not it."

"Well what then Granger? Why follow me if you've just come to laugh at me. I'm sure I can be spared." He bit out sardonically.

"Kiss me." Hermione replied, stepping forward with all the bravery she possessed

"What?" Draco asked, believing that he must have misheard her.

"I said. Kiss me. That is, unless you don't want to I understand I really do, I mean I've been nothing but a bi-." Hermione was cut off as Draco's mouth covered hers in such a pleasant way that she rather forgot where she was. That she was standing in the middle of London, down a dingy back alley with her former nemesis, in the rain nonetheless without a coat, nor her favourite hat. For, in her haste she'd forgotten to pick up her outerwear. She even forgot that it was inappropriate for her to be kissing another man when she had recently been dating a lovely muggle man named Colin.

The thought of Colin made her start to pull back slightly but all thoughts of him were erased when Draco traced her tongue with his. That was it, she was a goner. Pulling back she was pleased to see that they had ended up in position so that Draco's arms were wrapped tightly around her and her fingers were threaded through his surprisingly soft hair.

"I'm glad I left my hair messy today."

"I'm glad you did too. You know I'm also glad that Harry and Ron forced us to have this meeting."

"Me too, perhaps we should thank them?" Hermione wondered out loud, turning to the man that was unravelling her composure with the way he was pressing his lips to her neck. Draco raised an eyebrow as he looked into her eyes. They simultaneously replied to her question.

"Nah." Laughing Draco pulled her into another kiss.

He'd never tell her that she'd been set up by her two best friends.


End file.
